Someone To Come Home To
by Requiem of Flames
Summary: 1932: Chrono finally returns home, the Frankford Branch of the Magdalan Order, in Chicago. He knows her time is up…She’s not alone. He’s home, just in time to see her last breaths...to hear her last words...to follow her to the skies. [MANGA SPOILER]


**Title:** Someone To Come Home To

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own Chrono, or any of the Chrono Crusade cast, for that matter. They all belong to Daisuke Moriyama and ADV Manga

**Rating:** K+

**Genre:** Romance/Tragedy

**Pairings:** Chrono x Rosette, Chrono x Mary (flashback)

**Summary:** 1932: Chrono finally returns home, the Frankford Branch of the Magdalan Order. He knows her time is up…She's not alone. He's home, just in time to see her last breaths…to hear her last words, to see her last smile…to feel her lips pressed against his one last time.

**A/N:** I was almost in TEARS by the end of the manga. It is NOT FAIR for the ending to cut off like that!! I mean, her grave marker says '1908 – 1932', and Chrono found her in 1932, so did she die right there, or later that year??? My questions need answers!! Oh well, I'll answer my own questions…MANGA SPOILERS

It's my first Chrono Crusade fanfic, so please don't judge too harshly…

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**Someone To Come Home To:**

_**This is my December…  
This is my time of the year.  
This is my December…  
This is all so clear.**_

_**And I'd give it all away,**_

_**Just to have somewhere to go to.**_

_**Give it all away,**_

_**To have someone to come home to…**_

Chrono wandered the countryside, searching. It had been years. 8 years, actually. Almost a decade. He had not used his true form since he battled Aion, in fear of killing Rosette that much sooner. He had stayed in his child-like form, and had grown into an adult. His purple hair was long and worn loose on his back. His golden eyes were dull and tired-looking, and his clothes were ripped and torn. Without his true form's powers, he could not completely heal his shoulder where his arm had been ripped off, so it remained a bandaged stub.

He was so tired… so weak…The only thing keeping him going was her. He promised he'd be back. He had to go home…To where she was. Rosette Christopher…

Over the eight years he was alone, he had changed both physically and mentally. One fact remained, though, was that he still thought only of her. He tried to tell himself that she couldn't be alive…she had already been so weak when he had left…How could she have managed this long? Was she…was she waiting for him? He crushed the small amount of hope building in his heart. She was most likely dead. Her life had been threatened by that damn contract from the beginning, but thanks to her steadily fading soul in that pocket watch, she had nearly died on more than one occasion.

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"_Don't keep me waiting!" Rosette dashed forward, leaving Joshua to handle the demons that had begun to surround them. Pulling out her gun, she raced toward the torn and bloody Chrono, firing at anything that came near her. "CHRONO!"_

_The demon looked up, panting heavily. He knew that voice…Then he saw her. The girl, his contractor…Rosette Christopher. "Rosette?!" He tried to meet her, but his right arm was clenched tightly in a dying demon's jaws. Blood seeped around the ripped flesh on his arm. "Hngh…" He didn't have time for this! He had to get to Rosette! She needed him!!_

_Said nun leapt over a fallen demon and cried out upon seeing Chrono's predicament. She didn't stop running. At least, not until she collapsed. It was so sudden, Chrono thought she had been attacked. She hit the ground and lay unmoving, limp as a doll. Even from his distance, he could see the confusion and panic in her widened cerulean eyes. That was when he knew. Her time was up._

"_ROSETTE!!" Chrono tore away from the demon who had his arm, not feeling the pain that he should have when his arm was torn off just below the shoulder. Blood spurted from the gaping remains, but it went unnoticed by the sinner. He flew to the fallen girl's side, helping her sit up with his left arm. Well, the only arm he had at the moment. _

"_Rosette! Hang in there!" She stared blankly at him through half-lidded eyes. His heart pounded painfully in his chest. "Rosette!"_

_He asked her to hold on, for him, and for Joshua. He told her it would be okay. He could tell by the way she looked at him that she could neither hear nor understand what he was saying. _

"_Rosette, can you hear me? Snap out of it! Rosette!" Suddenly her eyes seem to focus, but they were starting to cloud over and become faded. She leaned up into his chest, smiling softly. Her lips were so close to his. If Chrono bent his head down just bit…_

_And then, she went limp. _

_Her hand dropped from the side of his face, and he could hear the pocket watch stop ticking. Chrono stared at the girl in his arms in disbelief, still holding her up in a sitting position._

'_That's not funny,' he thought angrily. 'Stop joking around, Rosette!'_

_She didn't move. "Rosette…" Still nothing. "Rosette!" Why wasn't she waking up? Why was she just lying there? He stared into her dull and lifeless eyes, a wave of anguish washing over him and flooding his body with pain. He clutched the girl tightly to his chest, burying his face into her hair, sobbing hoarsely. "Rosette…"_

"_Rosette! Chrono! Are you okay?" Joshua ran over to them, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight before him. Chrono was literally in pieces, with Rosette lying motionless in his arms. At the look that Joshua now sported on his face, Chrono wondered if he looked as utterly defeated as he felt._

_--------------_

Chrono winced at the memory, and having not been paying attention to where he was going, looked up only to find himself standing at the front doors of a church. Why had he come here? He saw a car driving away in the distance…maybe it was someone he knew? Doubtfully.

He closed his eyes and listened to the dinging and 'dong'ing of the evening bells. Then he heard it. His eyes snapped open as he strained his ears to find the noise once more. There. Beneath the ringing bells, a strangled cry was heard. The voice was familiar. Lower, more feminine. But familiar.

"Hngh…Chrono! No! I don't want to die!" It couldn't be! He opened the doors and stepped inside, instantly noticing the woman near the alter. It…It was her. It was Rosette! She had definitely gotten older. She had grown taller, and her blonde hair was paler and longer, braided loosely, with stray hairs unwinding themselves from the rest. She was dressed differently, too. She no longer wore a blue (and revealing) habit, but instead wore a simple blue blouse, accompanied by a dark lavender skirt that ended a few inches beneath her knees. A coffee-colored shawl was wrapped around her shaking shoulders. It looked familiar…it was his! She must've kept it when he left it at the Magdalan Order…before they left…

She stood and stared at him with tired cerulean eyes, as if not believing he was there. Then suddenly a fresh wave of tears streamed down her cheeks and she sobbed, staggering toward the purple-haired demon. She threw open her arms and he met her halfway, smiling warmly as she leapt into his chest.

"Rosette…"

"Chrono! You came for me! You came!" Tears soaked Chrono's ragged cloak as Rosette buried her face into the demon's shoulder. "I missed you so much…" She was panting…struggling to keep going.

Chrono nuzzled her hair and felt tears falling from his own, golden eyes. He kissed the top of her head and whispered loving words into her neck, smiling softly. "You're not alone, anymore, Rosette…" Rosette pulled back, beaming happily.

"You…You came home…"

"Yes…I missed you." Chrono knew her time was short. She tried to keep a tight hold on him, but both of them could feel her grasp weakening.

"No," she whispered. "No, it's not fair…I want more time! I want to stay with you, Chrono! I don't want to leave you!" She was crying hysterically now. "I want just a little longer! Just a little more time!" She began coughing slightly as sweat beaded on her brow. It was obvious that it was getting harder for her to breath.

Chrono sat on the church's wooden floor, gently taking Rosette into his embrace. "Don't worry, Rosette…I will follow you shortly." His eyes stared down into hers, their love for each other overwhelming them as they locked gazes. Chrono leaned down and Rosette eagerly closed the gap between them, pouring every one of her emotions into that kiss.

They pulled away just enough so that they could breath, but their lips still touched. Chrono watched her eyes dull, felt her skin become cold. He smiled through his tears. They would not be apart for long…

"Chrono…I…I n-never told…you…" Rosette looked up at him, trying so hard to focus on his face, but not succeeding. "I…I love…y-you…"

"Yes…I know, Rosette…I love you, too…I always have." He kissed her again on the lips, then gently on her forehead. He needed more time! She was fading fast…so fast…

Rosette's eyes fluttered closed, and her heart stopped. A contented smile settled on her lips, and she went limp in his arms. (well, arm.)

"Rosette?" His voice broke as he choked back tears. "Rosette…"

_  
__**This is my December…**_

_**This is my time of the year.**_

_**This is my December…**_

_**This is all so clear.**_

It was all so clear to him, now. He knew. For the first time in his life, he was certain about something, and he knew that now, thanks to Rosette, he could take a firm step forward. She had wanted him to be there when she died, didn't she? To hold her until her time was truly up?

He was certain that he had given that to her…he had been there for her in her most desperate time of need…and she had left him. She had always been selfish. She never listened, either. She only thought about herself! Funny…Those thoughts seemed familiar to him…

As he lay, sprawled out on the church floor with Rosette by his side, he closed his eyes and allowed himself to be taken by yet another memory. Now he remembered those words…When Rosette had dived into his soul, she had, once again, almost died. He remembered catching her as she fell…He remembered…

He squeezed Rosette's cold, pale hand, entwining their fingers. He remembered her…how she cried with him, laughed with him. They watched Mary's death together…in his memories, the scenes scorched deep into his mind and soul. Afterward she asked him to return with her. She begged him, with tears on her cheeks. She promised him that they could support each other…they could share their pain.

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"_Don't throw away all the good things that've happened," she had cried. Her image began to fade from his soul, and when he leapt forward to catch her, it was in the real world. _

"_You really like to push your luck, don't you?" Chrono stared at the nun with tears in his eyes as he tore the wires and machinery away from her. "All you think about is yourself! You're selfish…You never listen!" He hugged her. "How could I possibly leave you here alone?!"_

_---------------_

Chrono smiled as he followed Rosette, his love, into the skies…into the heavens.

'Yeah, that's right…If I hadn't made a contract with you back then…You would've just kept running. Alone. I HAD to protect you. That was how I felt.'

That is how I feel.

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**A/N:** Okay, there you go! A bunch of romantic drama, or dramatic romance, for you Chrono/Rosette lovers out there. I hated the ending of the English manga, it was so sad! I really liked how they finally found each other, etc, but…yeah, it was just too sad for me. The lyrics, by the way, are My December by Linkin Park. It's the song that inspired me to write this fic. Also the Titanic theme…:) PLEASE REVIEW, and PLEASE NO FLAMES!!


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